2020, 99 minutes
Directed by Channing Godfrey Peoples
Turquoise Jones is a single mom who holds down a household, a rebellious teenager, and pretty much everything that goes down at Wayman’s BBQ & Lounge. Turquoise is also a bona fide beauty queen — she was once crowned Miss Juneteenth, a title commemorating the day slaves in Texas were freed – two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. Life didn’t turn out as beautifully as the title promised, but Turquoise, determined to right her wrongs, is cultivating her daughter, Kai, to become Miss Juneteenth, even if Kai wants something else.
After premiering in competition at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, the film had its summer release affected by the pandemic - we are thrilled to be able to show it on the big screen to an in-person audience now. The movie received four Independent Spirit Award nominations, Nicole Beharie won the Gotham Award for Best Actress, and the film won Best Narrative Feature at the 2020 BlackStar Film Festival.